The Soul
by SoulStone
Summary: When Jeb's society finds out that they're other living human races out in the wilderness, they hesitate at first. But will one of these people steal Wanda's heart? Will Wanda Find this as another love interest? Will Ian Protest? R&R. Sequel to the Host.
1. Chapter 1:Confessed

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CHAPTER ONE

Confessed

"You know, I don't really like being watched while I'm sleeping."

"Well, if you were sleeping, you wouldn't know that I was watching" And I felt warm lips pressed gently against mine for just half a second. But it did its job, my heart thumped heavily inside my chest and my stomach was suddenly invaded by butterflies.

"Good Morning, Wanda." Ian said, full of love and pleasure.

"Mmm, Good Morning to you too, Ian." I answered back while turning. Facing his face only inches from mine. He kissed me again and I had the same heart-thumping, stomach-twisting reaction. I sighed, I wonder if I'll get used to his warm presence. How I ever deserved such an affectionate, loving, understanding, protecting man.

"What's the matter?" He suddenly asked. His eyes filled with concern but with the hint of sadness.

"Oh, Ian. You don't always have to be worried about me." I'm sure my tone was light and with humor. I'm not good at it, but I know I did. But maybe I did the opposite. His forehead slowly creased and he pursed his lips, giving him a brooding feature I haven't entirely seen before.

"I'm sorry, it's just this anxiety… Thinking maybe that one day, you would actually just get sick of me just like that. Not love me anymore. Go back to your civilized world. Leave me and go-"

"Ian! I would never leave you. How could you think that?" I couldn't let him finish. His face was filled with pain, and mine was filled with horror. "Nothing and no one would ever have the strength or power to make me leave you. Not anyone, not anything. I love you, okay? Please, don't ever say that again." I was staring directly into his frozen ice-cold blue eyes. I was a little stunned on how this pleasant morning all of a sudden turned into a tensed conversation. I didn't expect Ian saying those painful words. "In fact, I was actually thinking how I could ever get you. How I deserved you. How you could actually fall in love with something like me."

I was trying to distract him. I hated seeing his face full of pain. He must be thinking about this for a long time now, his face gave it all away. But how could he? He knew how much I love him, and I know he loves me.

"Wanda, you deserve me because you are the best that you could be. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to this household, these people and most especially to me. And I'm sorry; I won't bring that up again. I just wanted to make sure. I mean, really, absolutely sure. Just checking that you wouldn't just leave me without any clue. I wouldn't want to guess again, if you know what I mean." I sighed and flashed him a smile. I was relieved that my distraction worked and that he was making a joke now. "I know you love me…I'm sorry." He was staring into my eyes too. His frozen blue eyes turned liquid now. Ocean color. It was dazzling. Too dazzling that I hadn't realized he was leaning closer and closer until I only saw his beautiful eyes.

"Do you love me?" I asked. Although I knew the answer, I, too, wanted to be sure. "With all my heart, Wanderer." He leaned in so close now. He removed his right hand from my hair that he was playing with and placed it on my waist. He wrapped his other arm around me and drew me closer to him.

My heart was thumping again. Loudly, this time. I was sure he could feel it, or at least hear it. But I didn't really care, we were very close now. We hadn't been this close since, since—ah, I couldn't even remember.

We didn't have that much of privacy. We did have the room to ourselves now; since Jamie was staying with Aaron and Brandt but we still had our interruptions from Jeb, Jamie or Lucina's children. But they usually pried to remind us of breakfast. It must be really early in the morning then. I was distracted by his eyes, his face. And while I was thinking all of this, he leaned in and closed the remaining space between us, which was only an inch away. His lips were now on mine, locked and firm yet gentle.

We hadn't kissed like this in a long time. My head was spinning yet, I couldn't stop. He rolled over until he was on top of me. He stopped just to take in a breath, and I needed to breathe too. But that was only for a second. He leaned in again and kissed me. He rolled one more time and he was on the right side of the mattress and I was on the left. Switched places. We were still kissing, not stopping. Both of his hands were now around my waist, and my hands were roughly by his neck. He slowly lowered his hand from my waist to my thigh and straight to the back of my knee. I was gasping for air, and he was gasping too. This was so intense, but we both liked it.

He then jerked my knee up and hooked my leg to his waist, and we weren't stopping. His lips traced mine slowly and then faster. Upper lip and then lower lip. He was tracing them alternately. We were having a pattern now. This was all such heaven to me and nothing mattered but him. Ian O'Shea. The one man that I love and will always love. Everything was perfect and I couldn't feel anything but tense heat and everything Ian. We liked what it was, and probably where it would lead to- until we heard a starling slam by the door.

It caught me off guard and it nearly made me fall off the mattress but Ian's strong, rigid hands caught me. He secured me again, braced me close to his chest for just this one fast second and let go. He sat me down and he got up too, right beside me. He was holding my hand, and I was breathing heavily. Hyperventilating, actually, rather than breathing. But I heard another breath that was coming off strangely. It was Ian's. He was breathless too. I looked at him, and he was looking at me. Our eyes met and it locked for an instant. He smiled, and looked away to see who was responsible for interrupting our wonderful moment.

"Aww, gross!" I looked away from Ian's face and searched for the person who owned the familiar voice. "Like I needed something to make me throw up this early!" I giggled and sighed. It was Jamie. I was glad to see him, even if I just saw him the night before. It was always a great feeling seeing Jamie. "This is embarrassing!" Jamie turned around, his hand on his forehead. Ian was looking down, looking at my hand and was smiling. I felt the heat reaching my cheeks that I knew I was blushing and I looked down too. This host was always shy, timid but in a way that's right. But now, I felt really shy. Especially with Jamie here, who just caught us somewhat making out.

"Well, Good Morning to you too, Jamie." Ian said. I can hear the smile in his voice. I giggled again. Jamie then turned around to look at us with a very embarrassed expression.

"Every time I walk in into Jared and Mel's room, I catch them doing the same thing! If you guys want to stay in the room, not being disturbed and kiss around all day, then you might want to warn anyone who goes near your room." His voice was high-pitched and uneven. It seemed very funny to me. "Place a note or something." He added.

"Well Jamie, if you didn't want to see all that, then you might want to knock next time." I said. I giggled one last time and stood up. I patted his back and Ian stood up too.

"So Kid, why are you here?" Ian quickly changed the topic.

"Huh? What?"

Jamie was still unsettled. He was thinking too much. Trying to avoid the memory of what he just saw.

"Why did you bother us? What do you want? It's way too early for breakfast, so why are you here?"

"Oh. Sorry, I was still—Anyway, Jeb told me to wake everyone up. He says he has news or something. He fixed up a real early breakfast, but its 'special', so he says. He wants everyone to be up and get to the kitchen as fast a possible." Jamie's uncomfortable look was just about gone now; His tan coming back and the redness from his cheeks were fading. "What is he going to say?" I asked. I was abruptly filled with excitement. It seemed like the day was going to be a wonderful day.

"Hmm? Oh. Uh—I don't really know. Jeb wants everyone to be there first before he says anything. And uh, could you guys hurry it up? I'm hungry, and you probably shouldn't go back to where you were a while ago." Now Ian laughed.

"Sure, Kid. Why don't you go ahead" He was still smiling, and that made me smile too. Jamie started toward the door. "And oh yeah," Ian said. Jamie stopped and turned around to look at Ian again. "When you reach Jared and Mel's room, knock this time, okay?" Jamie scowled at us for a minute but continued walking out the door again and stomped his feet down the hallway. We could hear his muttering until he was out of sight. Ian laughed again and looked at me. I was still smiling. This was surely going to be a great day, considering the head start with the amusing morning.

"Well, that was embarrassing." He said. He was leaning closer again and he pressed his lips softly against my mine and then my forehead.

"Yes, it certainly was." I couldn't stop smiling, but so did he. His lips slowly went down from my forehead to my ear. There was a path of goose bumps forming along my arms. He whispered into my ear, "I'm not done with you, Wanda." He pulled back and looked into my eyes again, still holding my hand, and then we started down toward the dark hallway of the cave, headed for the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2:Informed

**_R&R. Very Much Appreciated! Take the time to Review, please. XD_**

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CHAPTER TWO

**Informed**

"Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty…Okay, We're complete." I saw that Jeb had a smile on his face when Ian and I walked in. We sat down on one end of a counter with Jared, Melanie, and Jamie. Kyle and Sunny, who never let go of each other, were sitting across from us. It seemed like every couple who were staying under this house; or at this case, cave, were more inseparable than ever.

Ian and I never let go of each other, unless we had work to do. Jared and Melanie were always together. They only separated when someone needed either of them. But Kyle and Sunny were of course different from us. They really, literally, by no means separated. Kyle didn't work that much like he used to. He had some errands to do now and again, but with Sunny always tagging along.

But otherwise, she would always look afraid and her eyes would fill with tears when it looked like that Kyle would be leaving even a mile away from her. Sunny was still not used to being around these humans. She was still mortified with everything, but she didn't look like she was going to get used to it any sooner. Sharon and her mother, Maggie, were at the very corner of the kitchen. The farthest corner from any of us, but they always stayed there. They still wouldn't like a soul near them, and there were two of us now. Jeb was still searching the room, like he was looking for someone in particular but everyone was in the room by now.

"I know it's a little early for breakfast and you guys aren't that much eager to wake up, But I couldn't wait any longer." Jeb said in an ecstatic tone. "What is it, Jeb?" Andy asked. He still looked like he needed more sleep. Of course, we all worked a little more than we used too since our population under this cave increased by two people; rather, souls inside people.

"Well, before you people judge and fume and do something, I just all want to let you know that, why I kept this from you was because things still had to be discussed and thought about." Jeb said defensively, his smile gone from his face. Everyone was still staring at the man who was standing in front and gave information that didn't make sense. They didn't look like they cared, as if they weren't up for surprises and other intriguing gossip.

It didn't make any sense to me at first, too. But then everything sank in and I realized what he was trying to do. I wonder why he waited all this time to say it. Things didn't have to be discussed, not like what he said, because it wasn't bad news at all. It was good news, really excellent news. Maybe that's why he gave the warning, because he was sure that there would be complaints after he told them what was happening. I looked at Ian, but his eyes were still fixed at Jeb, just like everyone else. Maybe he didn't know what was going on, or maybe he was just still tired, judging by the time of day Jeb had chosen to give this "important" gathering. I looked at Jared this time, and it surprised me that he, too, seemed like he didn't know what Jeb was talking about. So I joined the bandwagon and shifted my gaze towards the man.

"So, a couple of months ago, when Jared, Mel, Wanda, Ian, Aaron and Brandt went on with the raid…" From the corner of my eye, I saw Ian straighten his back from his slumped shoulders. I heard someone clear their throat, and it was Melanie. Maybe they were getting the message now. "There was an…unexpected discovery." He said. The rest of the words came out in a rush now. "See, we aren't the only human beings out here hiding in the hot, baking desert. There are over fifty more people in different, separate cells in the midst of the desert." He abruptly stopped to see the reaction he was getting from the information he was giving.

I stopped to look at him too and scanned around the room. Everyone was in shock, frozen in place except for the ones who already knew, and those were the ones who joined the raid; myself included. I bet they didn't expect this kind of news.

Jeb sighed heavily; maybe he was relieved because this wasn't the response he was anticipating for. But that relief only lasted for seconds when every living human in the room stood up, eyes still faced at Jeb, and raged up like angry animals. It was only the six of us that stayed still, faces looking down on the floor, and said nothing. I flinched when everyone started ranting altogether. Even Jamie had a shade of red from the anger.

"I can't believe you kept this from us, Jeb!" Someone shouted.

"There are other humans out there and no one told us?"

"Over fifty people?"

"Living humans?"

I couldn't make out what the others said, they were too loud. I felt something touch my hand, and I winced. But it was just Ian. He squeezed my hand, but we were still silent.

Here's the outline. It has been almost two years since Jeb had found me and I've been staying with the humans. It has been nearly nine months since I've been with Ian; In Melanie and Pet's body all together. And it has been vaguely two months since we have discovered other human clans roaming around the wilderness. Hiding from the Seekers and any possible souls that will try to hurt and seize them. It is also the point of those months that we found out that I'm not the only soul that has decided to live with the humans than stay in our civilized world—aside from Sunny, of course. So somewhat a traitor then, but I preferred the term "Native", as Burns, the other noble soul from the other human group, would say.

"Okay, hold on. Hold on!" Jeb rapidly said, his booming voice drowning out everyone else's. When the chattering stome, Jeb sighed and nodded towards the man beside him. "Geoffrey? You first. What d'ya got to say?" Jeb asked politely.

"Jeb, how can you wait for months until you actually decided to tell us this? Didn't you think that we would want to know sooner rather than later?" Geoffrey assumed softly. The raving was starting to build up again in agreement with him when Jeb held out one hand in the air. The noise suddenly stopped, and Jeb nodded his head toward Geoffrey, advising him to continue.

"Didn't you think that maybe one of those people could possibly be related to us?" His meaningful eyes were almost filled with tears but at the same time was evident with the spark of hope in them. I considered the thought for a moment, and he was right. Why did Jeb keep this as a secret from them? From his own kind, same species; from the Humans...? I cringed when I thought about it again.

Wasn't it unfair that I was one of the first ones to find out about it when it wasn't really my concern in the first place? One of those humans could be their family. Still searching, still hoping...

Jeb interrupted my thoughts with his response.

"Geoff, I'm sorry—you're right. I didn't think about that." Jeb was avoiding Geoff's gaze. He was staring at the floor, speculating. Perhaps he was looking for a valid reason, or searching answers for upcoming questions the others had to ask.

"I wasn't really thinking about the downside of not telling you all sooner. I was actually thinking about what we're about to do and will continue to do starting tomorrow." He wasn't showing any remorse now, not even the slightest. He was looking into each and every one's eyes, one by one. It looked like no one wanted to ask any questions anymore, like they were satisfied with Jeb's apology, also taking into thought about Geoff's incessant yet significant questions.

"Okay. So what are we going to do starting tomorrow then, Jeb?" I was startled how close the voice came from. "What are you planning? 'Cause I know they wouldn't want any more surprises." Jared continued. I was surprised how quiet Jamie was through all this. Maybe he was considering the options, too.

"Well, on our latest raid, I met up with Nate. He's handling one of the human crowds. There are four other crowds, not including our society, which has different caves too. They're all scattered around the desert but it's lucky enough that they're in good reach." None of us seemed to comprehend what he was implying. But he continued anyway.

"Now and again, we will have trades. You know, helping out in any way that we can. Giving Materials that they can use, lending out tools they need and all the stuff. It's kinda unfair if we don't share. I mean, we do have an advantage, getting more supplies easily if we're low on them." He looked at me and one of the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile. He was right; it was unfair if we didn't allocate any of these. But then again, one of the groups always had Burns.

"We trade in our updates, too. Letting each and every one of them know what's happening and they'll do the same. Again, we have another advantage to that. We have more supplies than we need and I'd bet they could use the supplement. And, we are the biggest population among all four. The first group reaches until eleven, the second one until seven, the third one until eighteen, the last one until twenty-two, and then there's us. Now, we all treat them like family. Just like how we treat everyone here." I could feel some of the eyes turn to my direction, but something told me that those were just the eyes of Sharon and Maggie, but they always did that anyway. So I ignored them.

"And of course, there's always the part when we can just, you know, talk. No worries, their premises are so close; we can walk to them without being noticed. But, we won't take the risk, so if we're coming to visit them or vice versa, we do it in groups or at least pairs." He flashed a sharp grin, looking at everyone. Maybe he was hoping that the angry thoughts were about gone now. And it was.

The room was immediately filled with excited chatter. Most of the room was filled with glee and hope. I could see Geoffrey making out images with his hands.

Perhaps he was already preparing himself on what to say when the time comes to talk to the other living humans out in the wilderness. Ian flushed down the entire mutter when he raised his voice to talk in order for him to be heard.

"Jeb, I think you're forgetting one thing." He nudged me by the elbow and Jeb appeared to understand, but I didn't. The noise that they made was beginning to falter and all eyes were on Jeb again.

"Uh, I may have forgotten one small thing." Jeb admitted, but with no sign of embarrassment. I could feel the atmosphere that was once dull, and then furious, then turned to understanding then slowly formed into excitement and was now full of curiosity. "I know you all struggled once with the appearance and stay of Wanda…" He trailed off. Trying to find the right words to continue on what he was about to say. Now I understood what Ian was trying to tell Jeb to announce to everybody. "Now listen here," His tone fully changed, clear with authorization. „I would expect nobody to stare, whine or do anything negative when you see him."

"Get to the point, Jebediah." Maggie nearly shouted. She was really impatient now; I could tell that she doesn't want any riddles to figure out anymore.

"I'm getting to it, Magnolia." Jeb snapped back and cleared his throat. "Look, Nate's group has one of their own. They have—Uh, a special friend too. So no one complain now." I know that Jeb was expecting a gasp or some notice of disapproval just as I was. But nothing came. Not even a hiss from Sharon or Maggie or whoever else.

This inevitably gave me a slight sting. Did everyone just act very brutal and hostile towards me? Maybe. Or were they just used to the fact that I mean no harm and they think Burns did too. Maybe that was it. Strange humans. No ways to fully understand them. But it still stung, just the slightest.

Jeb was holding his breath, but so was I. "Whew. Okay then. We'll meet up with them tomorrow afternoon." He let out another sigh. "Alright, let's eat."


	3. Chapter 3:Waited

CHAPTER THREE

**Waited**

I had no doubt that everyone would be up and moving as soon as Jeb would give the signal. Right after the get-together, everyone got to their places, got as much food as Lucina would serve and they ate. Jeb had everything prepared, even if he knew that there would be complaints, rants and arguments, he fixed up comfort food. This wasn't our usual meal, but like Jamie said, it was a "Special" one.

I still wasn't moving until Ian stood up and brought me back to the present.

"Hey, you okay?" He said with concern, patting my back at the same time.

"Yeah, I was just—caught off guard." I knew I didn't want to talk about it; why Jeb kept it for so long, so I changed the subject promptly. "Uhm, why don't we eat? You look hungry."

"Actually, I am." He smiled. "What do you want?"

"Uh, anything will do, thanks." I tried to smile too, but it ended up being a reluctant one. He sensed that I was trying not to talk much, so he ended the conversation easily.

"Okay." He patted my back one last time and left. I sighed and looked at nothing but the floor. I heard someone pull a chair and placed it beside me. That was fast, maybe Ian was really hungry.

"Wanda?" I looked up to see why the voice didn't sound like Ian. "Can I ask you something?" And found out that it wasn't Ian, It was Geoffrey.

"Go ahead, Geoffrey" I tried to sound pleasant.

There was a short pause before he took in a deep breath and asked his question.

"Are there really fifty more people out there in the open? All real _livin_g people?" I could see that spark of hope in his eyes was building up again.

"Well, I haven't seen them personally, although I have seen Nate's group. Half of it that is." I looked back at him and smiled the slightest. "And technically, they aren't really in the open. They have protective caves and homes, just like us. I'm sure they're safe, as we are here. No worries, just like Jeb says." I tried to convince him that everything would be okay with the way I responded, and I tried to squeeze in a smile, but that was half-hearted, of course.

"Oh. If—if you put it that way, then. I hope everyone _is_ safe." He nodded, understanding in his own way. "Thanks, Wanda." One corner of his mouth halfway turned up and it stayed there. I nodded too, saying welcome in my own way.

Ian came back with three plates; I knew the other two were meant for him. Everyone sat in their chairs and counters and ate, not exactly quietly but not really loudly either. There were mixed noises rounding all over the kitchen, but so far they all seemed pleased.

The afternoon that lurked the next day was highly tensed since everyone anticipated for it. We were all inside the big room waiting for our guests. Paige and Andy were holding hands, looking only at the entrance.

Lily and Heidi were somewhat jumping up and down, shrieking like little girls. Jamie was slapping hands with Aaron; he was getting old now, almost 16. Jared and Mel were talking, staring at each other's eyes. I do not know how those two could be any more cliché, but they didn't seem to care. Kyle and Sunny were still clutched to each other, as usual.

Doc was one of those whose concentration wasn't taken away by the entrance. He was talking to somebody as well. It took me a moment to recognize the woman until I saw the hair. In all my time being here, it was a rare occasion that Sharon would smile. But, she would most likely only do that whenever she was around Doc.

Lacey was standing in one corner; I didn't realize her there until someone moved out of the way. She had a big smile on her face, standing tipped-toe with what her shoes would allow. I guess she was hopeful herself. And I was with Ian, we were at the far corner of the room, my hand in his yet we were examining the room and anticipating. Everyone else was waiting by the entrance when Jeb walked in with a smirk.

Seeming fond of his waiting game, he finally announced what he needed to say.

"They're already outside. Now, I know I told you guys that there were over fifty people, but they couldn't go out here all at once, right? So, for now, it's Nate's group that came by but there's only seven of them, the others would be visiting tonight…" He said informatively, but I can feel that he had something more to say.

"And uh," I was right. "The special friend of theirs came with them, so…" He looked at me then, like he was giving me a precise mission.

"Wanda, could you like, talk to him? You know, give him like some perspective that everyone's okay with him and such?" He looked at me hopefully. How could I say no? Of course I would comfort Burns. If these humans were family in a way with the species, then Burns and I are family with a different manner too.

"Of course I will" I smiled at him and turned to look at Ian, finding some look of approval. He wasn't turned to me; he was still looking at Jeb with tight eyes so I had to catch his attention.

"Ian, are you okay with this?" I asked gently, and that's when he faced me but not entirely looking at me, instead his eyes were down on the floor.

"Course, do what you have to do." That's when he looked at me and smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. I knew that he was worried, but he shouldn't really fret about anything. Jeb nodded and stepped out of the room. From my peripheral vision, I could see that someone was coming near my direction and his arm reaching out.

"Hey Wanda, you're actually going to talk to the other...soul?" Jamie touched my shoulder. He seemed concerned, or maybe he just needed the gossip.

"Well yeah, sure. Maybe he needs company, so I'll be there to not make him feel out of place. He has to feel at ease in some way." I assured him.

"But you don't even know the guy. He might be dangerous, and you make it seem like you're old friends. He could try to hurt you." No, he _is _concerned.

"Don't worry, Jamie. We met him the night we discovered the other humans. He's been best friends with Nate and he's been staying with them, just like I am. The only difference is; he's stayed longer. Right, Ian?" I nudged Ian's arm, and he looked like he wasn't listening when clearly, he was.

His eyes were still firm and that bothered me a little. Did he have the same thoughts as what Jamie implied? I hope not, I knew Burns didn't mean any harm. Jamie then looked at Ian.

"Ian, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, I'm just—waiting." He still didn't look at neither of us, but he still seemed worried. But I convinced myself that he was really just waiting. But for who? Or better yet, what?

That's when we heard footsteps and laughter getting closer and closer towards the big room. They were coming, and everyone braced themselves for the seven unknown visitors. When they came inside, the first one to catch my eye was the tall, red-headed man. His eyes were sparkling and glinting from the reflection of the sun coming from the mirrors above the plaza.

"Burns." I barely whispered but gasped at the same time. He looked different, but I couldn't quite put my hand on the unusual feature. He was staring at the floor and he came in last from the seven people who were now scattered around the room, introducing themselves.

Ian wasn't beside me anymore; he must have gone to the ecstatic crowd, joining conversations with the heart-warming laughter. So I went ahead and did what I was told. Burns didn't move, but no one seemed to notice him but me. The room was filled with banters now, they all were talking as if they've known each other for years; like a reunion.

I had to squeeze in between people who were too much compacted. It seemed to take minutes before I could reach the entrance where Burns was waiting. I was moving strangely with the crowd that was in my way when my foot was hooked on a rock and I nearly fell, my face would be flat down on the floor when Ian held me up.

"Thank you, I—Burns." I gasped with surprise. I hadn't noticed that he stepped closer to me when I was coming to him. He suppressed a smile, but failed. He flashed a wide grin, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you." I said again. He might not hear me over the noise that filled the room quickly, but I decided he did.

"You're welcome, Wanderer."

I was surprised that he still remembered my name. It's been months since we have seen each other. Then again, I didn't forget his name either. That's one thing that couldn't be forgotten.

As I got closer to him, I realized what was different from his look. He had this long, fading, pink scar by his left eye. It looked like as if he was dented by a wild animal.

"What happened to your eye?" I asked. I didn't notice that my hand was moving forward when he flinched. "Sorry."

"It's fine." He smiled again. "Accidentally bumped into the wall"

We were silent for a minute, although the room was still continuing to flow of conversations.

"So, would you like anything, Burns? Food, water, tools?" I tried to cease the awkward silence that stood in the way between us.

"No, I'm good." He looked into my eyes and I was distracted. I wasn't used to seeing anyone with silver outlines by their irises. There wasn't a mirror around the caves so I couldn't see my own eyes. I wasn't always close with Sunny, so I couldn't see hers too. "Thanks anyway, Wanderer."

"You could call me Wanda." I suggested with a smile. "Everyone here calls me that anyway."

"What?" He leaned closer but I backed away. He laughed when he took notice of what I just did.

It seemed like a reflex to me, so I couldn't help it. And then I sighed and laughed too.

_He just couldn't hear you over the noise, Wanda_. I thought to myself.

"Sorry." I said, almost inaudibly.

"What?" He gestured his hand over his ear.

"I said I was sorry!" I nearly shouted. Now he was the one to flinch away, maybe I was too loud. I giggled by the unexpected volume.

"Do you want to go somewhere else besides this room?" He suggested, or at least that's what I thought he said. Everyone was getting loud now. Laughter, amazement, fascination, gasps, sighs of relief and other notions.

"Go somewhere?" I said but with a louder tone now. He nodded and eyed the entrance piercingly.

I searched around the plaza, turning my back to him, finding some kind of sign of Ian so I could ask. I couldn't leave with him still feeling worried.

"Who are you looking for?" Burns asked. I turned my head and his face was inches from mine. I was shocked and nearly fell over. He caught my arm again and dragged me forward, near his chest. I tried to push him off gently, but he did that for me, moving away awkwardly. His chest was strong and firm that added to my shock.

He cleared his throat and placed one hand in his pocket. I scanned the room again, Ian was no where to be found. My instincts told me that he was fine and I should go somewhere and away from this strident area.

"So how about it?" Burns asked again, his arm forward, hand held out. He was offering some help for my unguarded stance.

I looked around for the last time and sighed. I'm sure he's fine. I thought to myself again.

I took his hand, straightened my position, and he smiled. We were walking towards the entrance now, my hand still in his.

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**_So, you guys might think that "Oh no, Wanda and Burns!" But I wouldn't let that happen of course. I wouldn't let Ian be abandoned and he didn't stand up for a fight. So, please, no ranting and judging too fast. I still have my upcoming chapters. :) So, please judge and review when it's done and it might turn out to be ugly. :) Thanks._**


	4. Chapter 4:Spoken

_**There are really many of you guys who puts this on Story Alert. Can you take a second to Review too? :D ;) Please?**_

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CHAPTER FOUR

**Spoken**

We could no longer hear the deafening noise; it was fading behind us now. When we were past the main plaza, we were walking around the halls of the caves when we realized we didn't know where we were going. Then I suddenly remembered my hand still in his. I abruptly took it back and clasped both of my hands together, still walking side by side with Burns.

"It was pretty intense back there, wasn't it?" He tried to make small talk, but I was too awkward to speak, so I nodded instead. He realized how I wasn't up for talking so he looked away. I felt guilty for not even trying; I did accept Jeb's idea to at least make Burns a little alleviated. But I did try, it just so happens to be that I needed the settlement more than he did. I had no idea that this would be awfully hard, for me at least. I thought this would be smooth and effortless, and I didn't even know why I was uncomfortable around him. Maybe because we started off with a fall-and-catch greeting, and the following short and almost inaudible conversations.

He's probably used to meeting strangers, though. Since he was always around when they discovered more humans. He probably felt nearly smug all the time.

I hadn't noticed where we were going for the past few minutes, but I turned right anyway and he followed. I realized the path that we were taking was leading to the eastern field, where the corn was always being planted.

"Where are we going?" He asked slowly, careful not to sound too loud or speak to fast. I must have looked so brittle to him. I accepted that fact a long time ago, though. I knew that this body wasn't capable of doing much, but he acted vigilant around me anyway.

"Uhm, anywhere besides the plaza" I managed to place in a smile, but he was looking ahead and wasn't able to see my effort. The smile faded easily, and I felt like I needed to apologize for the strange silence and the incoherent talks.

"Burns, I'm sorry..." I admitted. I wonder how many times I've apologized to him in this short period of time. He suddenly looked at me, his head tilted to the side.

"For what? You didn't do anything." He assured me.

"Well, for one thing, I was acting strange." I was afraid to look at him, so I shifted my head downward, on the floor. We reached to a short stop when the halls suddenly became bright and wide, but continued walking, slowly. I was glad I knew where everyone was, communicating and mingling with the humans, who are still strangers to me, except for Burns of course.

I could tell that he was still confused, because his head was still tilted to the side. Unless he was just trying to act bemused to save me the embarrassment.

"You, acting strange? I couldn't distinguish which part. You seemed absolutely fine to me." He shrugged, being nonchalant. But his innocent role was too innocent. But I decided to play along, since he seemed like he wouldn't admit to anything.

"Please, Burns. I know you're just being kind, but I have been acting quite eccentric and you know it." I then looked at him, expecting some kind of reaction, like recognition, aside from the confusion.

But he still looked as if he had no idea, even if I knew he did. He was being plainly silly; I didn't even know why I continued with the foolish act. Although, what he didn't know was that someone asked me to look after him.

I sighed anyway and took the liberty to explain about that part.

"You see, Jeb…" I looked to see if he knew who I was speaking of. He nodded and I continued. We skidded to a halt for him to concentrate better on my explanation.

"Jeb asked me just a couple of minutes ago that when you guys come over, I would kind of…" I trailed off, looking for the right words to explain this. I tried to swallow and continued further to prepare for my future humiliation.

"Go ahead..." He seemed like he wanted to really know.

"Well, he suggested that I would talk to you. Make you feel…contented, you know, distract you if ever you feel out of place or maybe just need a friend." I found myself finishing with a shrug.

I couldn't hear anything except breathing for the following seconds until I heard a low sniggering coming from the man beside me.

"Distract me?" He laughed again. "I think you're the one who needs distraction because I'm perfectly fine!" The laugh lines around his eyes gave him a look I have never seen before; but it fit him. I was right; he did seem smug at some times.

I couldn't help but laugh with him, though; maybe it did seem a little inane. The feeling of being unease with Burns was starting to fade. It seemed like feeling oddly strange with him didn't make any sense, after all, we are from the same variety, in many ways.

We started walking again and the laughter lasted for a few short breaths when we reached the middle of the field. We sat down and stared into the blank space. This kind of reminded me of the first few months that I was staying with the humans, when Ian had asked me if Melanie was really still alive. That was a while back ago when I was still a dirty, disgusting parasite to most humans here; but then again, I'm still that parasite to some people here.

We sat in silence for quite a while when finally Burns cleared his throat and spoke.

"So, Wanderer, Uhh—Wanda." He emphasized on that last word with a leer. He turned his head toward my direction and looked like he was about to ask a question. It didn't surprise me though that he wanted to. Anyone of everyone would be curious too, in my position of leaving our civilized, perfect world for the humans. Of course, Burns left that world too, to be with his best friend, Nate, I think. Or maybe he had some other reason. All that matters is; we both weren't on our side of the universe. So if he would ask, I had my questions prepared for my turn, too.

He hesitated for a moment before he found his voice and continued.

"If you don't mind me asking, and I know we're really not very much friends…" I could hear from his tone the word yet adding to that last part, so I nodded, leading him to continue.

"Well, how did you exactly find your way deciding to stay with the humans? You and your other friend, what was her name? Sunlight Passing Through the Ice?"

"Sunny, yes." I said, waiting for more. He hesitated and deliberated, shaking his head.

"How did you end up here?" I could sense that he wanted to further more express this question with more perceptive words, but that was all he could come up with. Plain and simple. And he decided to stick with that understating sentence. He started to wait, too.

"Well—Uh—I…I, Uhm…"

I was a little shocked to myself on how I couldn't answer his question quickly.

On my few, short days staying in San Diego, back when I was still not a traitor, I was an honorary professor in a University, that was my calling. And on my life term with the Sea weeds, I had a similar calling. I was a storyteller. And on my time being here inside these caves, underground and subtle, I was somewhat a 'teacher' to these people. With my class being informal, the kitchen crowding every time I had some chances to make a lecture, I would share everything that I knew and experienced to these people, making them aware of the other planets that souls could…take.

But this was one story I haven't told, and I never found it inside me to say it.

He waited in silence and long seconds passed by. I then took a deep breath and finally made out the words that would fit to explain my answer.

I started with "I had a resistant host" and that certainly got his attention. But he didn't act the way I expected him to. I got his interest, yes, but he didn't seem surprised or appalled, he didn't retort in any other way, just alertness. I ignored this anyway and continued. "I was actually afraid of her before, when I was aware of the possibility of her taking over. And I hated her more, for being as strong as she was even under the condition she was in, not even weakened by the fact that her body wasn't exactly hers anymore." I was staring at the dirt on the ground, and concentrated. It made me wince to reminisce, and I realized that this was the past. I remembered that I had a whole new body now. "I had a special Seeker assigned to me. Not really special, she only seemed that way because she was awfully obnoxious. She wouldn't leave me alone. She knew that I had a resistant host, and she was eager to place herself inside the body, to get the information she wanted herself. But I didn't like the idea, and mostly because it scared me, thinking that she would be inside me. Well, it felt like me, anyway."

"A strange feeling started to build up inside me that I realized it was hatred. Both me and my host, Melanie, hated that horrible woman. So I ran away, there wasn't much leaving behind anyway. I got to thinking, and as soon as I knew it, I didn't hate Melanie anymore. Instead, she couldn't hide her memories any longer, and she unwillingly showed them to me. She had the most important people ever to protect, and she was afraid to show them, afraid that I still might change my mind and squeal. But we both knew I couldn't do it, because when I didn't hate her anymore, I started to talk to her, and we started to become companions, and I started to love those important people as well."

"I found myself willing to look for these people, to go beyond the desert and find them, and you met one of them, Jared. But it's different now…anyway, when we started to search, everything became complicated and we were dying from the heat, the hunger, the pain. At least we thought we were dying, when Jeb saved us. He brought us back to these caves, and I was finally able to see those whom I've been searching for so frantically. But I suddenly remembered that I was a soul, not like them, so everyone desperately wanted to kill me, murder me." I hadn't realized the atmosphere getting hot, but I saw that it didn't. The heat reached my face and tears started to fill my eyes. Recalling hurt real bad more than I thought it would. I finished the story anyway, so Burns wouldn't be more curious than he already was. "But," I sniffed. "Everything turned out to be settled, at least. I'm with Ian now, and Melanie is with Jared. Time was just the key, and patience." I decided to look at him, hoping that he didn't fall asleep from what looked liked a never-ending story.

I was glad that he didn't, he nodded, thoughtful. He lifted his hand and placed it on my back, patting, calming.

"I'm delighted to know that everything turned out right." He smiled, his eyes sincere.

"That was a very interesting happening, though. I didn't expect that to take place." His eyes turned away from me and he thought, but he looked at me again.

My tears dried and Burns and I became oddly silent. I know I missed a couple of details; The Seeker, relentlessly looking for us when we disappeared, was caught and the host's body was given back to the original owner. Myself, giving up and self-sacrificed for those humans whom I loved very dearly, and gave the most important secret to these humans that were known to soul-kind. Melanie, whose body was given back to her. Jared, whom I didn't love as much I would compared from before, who was with Melanie now. Pet, whose body I am wearing at the present, how Doc had broke his promise and the others and whoever else decided to give me another chance, another body.

And most importantly Ian, how the obstacles of Jared and Ian fighting over this body were treacherous and unnecessary. How everything changed between my forced love with Jared and my spontaneous love with Ian, how he meant everything to me, and everything would fall apart without him.

I shouldn't rush things, though. I knew that this wasn't the last of seeing Burns, there would be more time. Heck, there would be more time than we expect to have. We had forever on our hands. I still had choice, that was a given fact, but I wasn't planning on leaving. No, I wouldn't leave, of course not.

Abruptly, Burns gave out a sigh. The sudden sound made me jump, it echoed out through the field.

"Go on," He said, like he was letting someone continue from a conversation.

"Excuse me?" I said, confused.

"Go on, ask your question. I know you're thinking about it." His gaze was still on the ground. He sighed again, like he was tired of waiting.

I wasn't actually thinking about it, but since he brought that topic back to the present, I decided to go with it then.

"Uhh, Okay." I hesitated, deciding whether to make the question simple as well, or reinstate what he couldn't say a while ago. "How did _you_ end up here?" I asked, slightly imitating his tone when he had said these words.

He chuckled at my expression. "Well, since you asked..." he said, playfully, but it faded easily, suddenly turning serious again. "You know," he started. "We have more things in common than you think." He turned his head to me, a wry smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 5:Bothered

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CHAPTER FIVE

**Bothered**

He didn't say anything in particular after that. Minutes passed, and I guessed he was giving me time to think. Those words slowly sank in and it gave me a much stronger reaction than I expected to have. I let out a gasp; it surprised us both, so I lowered my voice to almost a whisper "Your host…was…too?" I couldn't say it straight, and I knew this shouldn't be such a big deal to me. I only met one other person who had the same issue as me, Lacey. It would explain though why the Seeker resulted to be such a terrifying woman, but she was in another place now, Planet of the Flowers. But Burns? Really? It seemed very disbelieving.

He finally spoke, his voice smooth. "You shouldn't be really that surprised," I waited for another explanation. "I mean; the likelihood of having indigenous souls seemed only possible when the host started off being challenging. It couldn't work, wouldn't work, and I guess you knew it, you just didn't realize it, yet." He clarified, shrugging.

"Not really, no. That actually depends on the soul too, Burns." I knew that what Burns had held wasn't true. I had become traitor to every soul now, leaving on being loyal to my family, to the humans I loved. But that depends on the soul and the host. The Seeker whose name I never learned had Lacey, but she decided to be a Seeker, something that was too far away from being a home-grown soul, the exact contrary. She would do anything to hurt and take a good grasp of these humans, not like me.

I winced, but I remembered she was gone now. She wouldn't be able to hurt my family again.

And then there's Sunny. She had absolutely no one with her inside, just her own self, own mind, own freedom. Yet, she seemed capable of being trusted. Not as far as they trust me, of course not, but at least to the point where she was bearable to people here. On the contrary, she had the accompanied refuge of Kyle, and she wouldn't even try to dart off, not with the hostile stares and some threats still occasionally nomadic around the atmosphere.

"What do you mean?" Burns asked, suddenly out of thought. "Well Anyway, I know you have your opinion, but I really want to tell you my side of the story, I would want to see your reaction." He nudged his elbow to my ribs and smiled. I flinched, but nodded anyway. He put on a straight and serious face, like he was giving bad news to a patient who was going to die; I've never seen him this bleak before. Maybe I wasn't the only one who was having a hard time with the nostalgic effect.

"It was a long time ago, yet it was so clear in my head." He stopped; shut his eyes for this short moment, and his face. For this one short glimpse that I had of his face, it was filled with regret, remorse…pain. For one absolutely, almost-imaginary second, he seemed like he was being tortured.

"Days after the Healer had finally transplanted me into the host's body; it was a big struggle for me." He was staring past the floor, into space, awfully concentrated. It was then I realized that Burns had this mysterious effect on me. One minute, he's carefree, smiling, a happy-go-lucky type, and the next; he just goes deep into thought. I knew looks can mostly be deceiving, but I was definitely deceived. Maybe there was more to Burns than I thought, or maybe that's just what I think. I hadn't been too close with my fellow 'soul-kind' populace anyway, so how should I know?

"I started hearing voices, well, a voice in particular. It wasn't familiar, and I had no idea what was going on. I thought to myself, 'maybe I was going crazy', maybe the Healer did something wrong, and I didn't know the differences from the Fire world and Humans, so I was essentially clueless. I started consulting a comforter, but she gave up all hope for me as well. I know; some kind of Comforter. It only made things worse for me…until I met this Seeker. His name is unknown to me even until this very day, he didn't like to tell people what his name was, nor give any details about his life. He's Ill at ease, but he asked me these questions about my past troubles about the host that really just ended me saying 'yes' all the time. It was like he was reading my mind." He shifted his gaze to the upper left, like he was remembering that exact moment.

"Well anyway, he then told me about the resistance. He suggested on taking my problems with a comforter, when I told him that that was exactly the first thing I did and how that was very much futile. He then told me about the idea of 'disposing' my body. I didn't understand at first, but slowly, the words sunk in.

At first I had my doubts, but Brian, did I tell you about Brian?" He looked at me then. I shook my head with narrow eyes. It seemed like I was hearing a made-up story, I've never heard anything so, familiar yet somewhat indefinite.

"Brian Conner. He's—a great guy." Burns nodded approvingly. I gaped at him until he decided to continue. I wasn't too much in favor of responding to his story just yet; Staring seemed like the best thing to do right now.

"Brian got more and more irritable inside my head." He smiled, looking back at the memory. "I got pressured, not really getting much time to think, if you can imagine the racket inside my head." He turned his head to me, remembering that maybe I could imagine that, since I've experienced it myself.

"I was able to talk to the Seeker, and he arranged an appointment with a Healer already. Although I wasn't really much too sure about all of this, it was too late to back out. Brian didn't bother me too much though, that was the complex part. It turned out that, well, not that he wanted me to dispose this body too but, he wanted to be free as well.

On my way home from the Restaurant, I was a Cook, that was my Calling, and it was late. I got off my shift later rather than the usual." I was getting more involved with the narrative, imaging the place, setting, everything.

"It was a cold, dim night out; everyone was surely asleep by then. There weren't many stars up in the sky to glow enough to light the street. The streetlights were beginning to fade down one by one, so the night was sinister indeed, perfect…for kidnapping someone." If I was able to see my face right this moment, I was entirely sure I would look like someone who just saw a ghost. Pale as chalk, frozen in place, anxious. Hearing what's been told by Burns, he seemed like he was mixing his own history with a horror tale, but I knew that it wasn't. I couldn't prejudge just yet; I had to hear what would be next.

"I unexpectedly felt a sturdy 'slam' by the head. Like a hammer banging the nail to get through the wall. The last image I could make up in my head before I passed out were a white, soiled pair of sneakers. The next thing I knew, I wake up in a claustrophobic, congested space; a cave in some sort. I was disoriented, either from the throbbing pain I could still feel behind my head, or from the dim light that was coming from the ceiling. I had no time to see who was behind all this treacherous action, even Brian was still recovering from the aching.

I struggled and brawled and writhed in any way imaginable to get away from the rigid grip of the rope that was tying me to the chair; both my hands and feet. When, from out of the blue again, someone held me down by the shoulder to stop." He paused for moment, took in a deep breath and shook his head.

"It was Nate who held me down, and it was Robert who knocked me out." I let out another gasp, louder this time, my hand covering my mouth to stifle the sound. I was going to have to get used to this if there would be more unexpected news from Burns. Everything was a mystery coming from him, and learning the truth would be even more startling.

"Why would they do such a thing?" I could hear the fear in my voice, my eyes widening every second.

"Because Robert said so." He looked at me with this angry look in his eyes. I couldn't understand; how did Robert get into the reason?

"That doesn't make any sense, Burns."

"You see, Robert is the persuasive kind. The one everyone goes to for opinion, advice, the one everybody listens to when he has an initiative, no matter how impractical it is. And, how 'convenient' it may seem, Robert had his theories." Burns took in a sharp, shaky breath. I still couldn't grasp the idea Burns was implying. "And since everyone listens to Robert…" Until now.

"Robert actually suggested on kidnapping a soul to experiment with?" Again, another gasp.

"I couldn't say it better myself." Burns shrugs, the way someone would do when he didn't know what to say next yet he didn't care, really. But this was horrific. I could only think of one condition where this had happened before. Not in exact detail, but I've seen the results of the poor souls that have been experimented on, like lab rats; they don't mean a thing…to them.

I shuddered, clearing the thought away; I wouldn't want to be emotional now. In comparison to Burns' story, he should be the one filled with tears.

"But it wasn't Robert who suggested me, he didn't even know me. It was Nate that gave the idea. Since no one really knew any Soul out there, they didn't really have a choice, even in arguing. Rob was thrilled with the idea; of course, he's like the Doctor in the faction. Not officially, but before the 'taking over' of us, he was in Medical School. Don't you have one of your own as well?" This now reminded me of Doc, but the strange part is; how come I felt this iniquity, this vice sense towards Robert? With Doc, I understood their perspectives, Jeb made it clear.

I nodded in response; no words could form through my mind that would be sensible enough for an answer.

"Could you imagine Nate saying 'Hey, why don't we seize my best friend's body? We could experiment on that. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." He said it with full resentment, with contempt and sarcasm. It was difficult to deem that this happened a long time ago and every event now is going just well. I could feel the tension from his words, and it was like he was telling a story that had just happened recently.

"How did you come to live then?" I asked, still unsatisfied with what looked like the end.

"Well, when I showed the recognition, Nate was stunned. He didn't expect me to remember him, not at all. They gave me a few days to regain myself, and things began to change. They let me go from the chair and made me free to go about the cave room. One day, Nate just started talking to me, like an ordinary person. He made me tell stories about what I do in life, what has happened to humans out there. And soon, as time just flies by real quick as it generally does, I just end up where I am right now."

Images, memories came flashing by before my eyes. Déjà vu. Hadn't this happen to me at some point in my lives? Yes, it did. Jeb was Nate, and I was Burns. And now here we are. I realize that we had comparable situations. Minus the part where the human was the one who came after the soul, and not the other way around. And minus the fact that Burns brought violence with him, malice and unawareness, whereas I only had pathetic desperation and anguish.

It bothered me a little that those who were capable of being trusted and could be tolerated with were the ones with a stubborn, redundant voice on the back of their heads, or at least some of those. That wasn't exactly giving me hope as much as I wished it would. Burns and I both lived a quarter in our life where we were treated painfully and scornfully. We weren't the Souls that we started off being from the beginning. We weren't always pleasant, amusing, like what we 'parasites', for a lack of better judgment, should usually act and do, like exasperating robots.

No human were ever to be that pleasing, but wasn't that exactly the point? We weren't humans, although we had one living inside of us. We both learned foreign thoughts, sensations and reactions because we had no choice. We had to act different, be different. But ironic as it may seem, we had the time of our lives here. Even though we had the perfect planned life ahead of us before, we are still both satisfied and contented. We don't exactly belong, but it's still worth living for if someone loves you like an equal anyway. I can't speak for Burns, but in all my lives, I know, from the deepest part of my heart, that I belong here. Not exactly on earth, but at least where I am now, with the ones I love.

With the stillness and silence that was occurring now, the sudden sound that came from behind us was very strident and patent. Ruffling footsteps hastily came down the halls that slowly led to a stop. We both turned around to look who it was even if I thought it was Ian when it was Jamie. Where is Ian anyway?

"I found her!" Jamie yelled back down the halls. The echoes flowed through and were evident to hear. He was panting and breathing for air. I stood up to stand next to him.

"Catch your breath, Jamie." I smiled; he really still acts like a child sometimes. Burns got to his feet to stand a foot away from us, fairly definite that Jamie would feel dimly uncomfortable with Burns around. Jamie finally inhaled a long breath and looked at me.

"We've been looking all over for you. You're always the one who goes loose, you know." Jamie chuckled. "It's snack time, Wanda."


	6. Chapter 6:Stunned

CHAPTER SIX

**Stunned**

Walking through the halls, Burns was still a foot away from us. I shifted my head towards him and smiled, turning to see his face right now. He smiled back and hurriedly looked down. I turned to Jamie and he was staring at us, suspicion in his eyes so I quickly started a topic before he could ask his accusing questions.

"J-Jamie, did Ian send you here?" I asked with false indifference. I heard a low chuckle coming from behind us. I threw a sharp look at Burns with an odd smirk on my face.

"Yeah, well actually everyone's looking for you. Ian just got anxious, he worries too much, you know." Jamie laughed at that thought, I smiled too, glad that he rapt the distraction and because that was true; Ian really does worry too much. I understand his concern, but it's not really necessary. Where else could I possibly run off to?

"Jamie, why don't go ahead? I just have to talk to Burns for a moment." I didn't much recover from his story, I wanted to be sure it was actually factual and he wasn't mocking me.

"Are you sure?" He faintly moved his eyes to the right; apparent that he was talking about my safety with Burns. I couldn't help but giggle.

"I'll be fine, Jamie." I smiled at him reassuringly.

"Well okay, but you better hurry getting there though, because I'm hungry and you know what happens when I'm hungry." He chuckled and his body faced the direction going to the kitchen. I nodded back at him; he shrugged and glanced one last time at Burns. Jamie quickly dashed towards the kitchen, I looked behind me and Burns was three feet away from me.

"Burns, you're not an animal. You don't tame yourself, come over here." I gestured my hand directing him to come closer. "You're being silly." He came closer with a grin on his face.

"I was just checking if he's still afraid of me." He quietly laughed to himself again with his hands on his pockets.

"He's not afraid of you, no one's afraid of you." I paused for a moment, maybe that wasn't true. I rapidly started to say something else to stop me from entailing a false statement. "Anyway, s-so Burns…do you mean that Brian's still with you right now?" He looked at me warily, looking for some sort of meaning to my question. He opened his mouth but no words came out, so he nodded instead.

"Is he talking to you right now?"

"Not exactly, only when something considerable enough is happening."

"Hmm." Was all I could defy back.

I started to think about Burns' comeback.

If Brian only becomes obtainable when something important comes, and since no major affair usually goes about here, then that must lead to him fading…right?

We started walking without saying anything. We passed by the halls, turning right, into an open path, straight ahead, left and another right leading to the kitchen. When we reached our destination, I could isolate some heads turning to look at who I was with.

**Ian O'Shea**

Meeting these new people makes a good achievement to this household. For one thing, we all gain new friends…but I guess that doesn't exclude Wanda.

I knew that leaving Wanda a while back in the plaza was wrong, but staying there and watching her every step, coming closer to Burns was harder.

Every time I see that 'Burns' guy with Wanda, well, it's like there's something incredibly wrong there. Like the tension, the bond they share. It's not that I don't trust Wanda, it's not that at all but, who is this Burns anyway? I know meeting with him once again meant a great deal of happiness to Wanda, conversing with one of her own kind that has actually inhabited with the humans, which is still unbelievable to most of us—or just typically me. Even if he really is what Nate describes him as his best friend, could he be trusted?

We all had put our trust avowal for Wanda into test; but then again, we're speaking about Wanda here. She's the ideal woman, the one everyone is bound to love somehow, the one I've been waiting for my whole life, even if I didn't know it yet. Fate must love me, to give me such an angel. She's honestly just..just perfect. She thinks about other people, cares for them, even if it is uncalled for.

She's willing to forgive anyone, even if that person did something unforgivable—going back to Kyle's appalling act back in the past—and she's the one who feels guilty for the punishment of the one who hurt her. She thinks about the betterment of all of us generally. Her unconditional, irreplaceable and outstanding love is something that couldn't be expressed in terms, it's past words now…and I am more than thankful, more than delighted that she is mine, and I am hers.

Yet, why do I still feel this slight antagonism towards her spending time with Burns even if I know I could trust her with my whole existence?

I was drowned into thought since the excessive noise was all around the room. I haven't actually been talking with the others that arrived; maybe this is bothering me more than I was aware of. It's just that, I miss Wanda, even though we see each other ever day, even though we talk every day. When was the last time we took a break from veracity and spend the spare time with each other? Maybe even just basically talking would be rewarding enough. Every moment that I still breathed, I wanted to be with her, but I knew that was impossible. I didn't want her out my sight, and that sounded awfully selfish. It's ridiculous to even overemphasize like that, being a typecast, but continuing life around her...it's impossible to not.

I wasn't in the mood to eat, even with the plate that's bursting with food in front of me.

I knew this would be an entire waste, just fooling around with it. I finally looked up from the ruined meal I created, frustrated.

Jamie unexpectedly came dashing through the kitchen. He turned his gaze, without a breather, towards the food rested atop the counter and hastily snatched one of the plastic plates.

I silently sniggered to myself. Of course, food is all Jamie's after.

I cautiously observed him and the entranceway of the kitchen. Wasn't Wanda supposed to be with him by now, since he was sent to get her in the first place?

Humph. I knew it. I should've gotten her myself…but why didn't I?

Some challenge I must be to Burns. I'm not doing such an exceptional job for being Wanda's partner…and I should be if I want to spend the rest of my life with her, even if we're all 'under cover' in these caves.

When Jamie practically sucked in all the food and positioned it on his plate, he didn't even hesitate to sit across me.

I stared at him with bewilderment and disbelief while he gnawed down his ham, eggs, potatoes and the rest he's fitted in his incredibly outsized mouth. He didn't look up until finally, he finished his last bite. He kept glancing at my bleak, dreary plate of food. I exhaled a heavy sigh and pressed the plate beside his empty one. He started nibbling on the food one by one, but my offer made him quite attentive, for once.

"Sorry, were you planning to eat this?" He stopped chewing; pointed at the cold and taut steak with his fork, anxious, if I would say 'yes'. "I didn't mean to force you… "

I was still gawking at him with narrow eyes.

"Geez, here you go. You're the one who gave it..." He shrugged and got to his feet, still oblivious to what I was really thinking.

"Jamie, where's Wanda?" I finally spat it out. "Weren't you to go get her?" My voice was in slight panic. The real translation to those words was: You left her alone with that—stranger? And it was apparent that he knew it.

"No need to go extreme, Ian. She's on her way now, okay? She insisted on following after 'cause she still wanted to ask Burns something…" And comprehension hit him. "Oh."

This seemed strange. I've never felt this—disturbed before, not even with Jared. Yet impatience struck me, blocking all other thoughts.

I stood up, planning on doing at least something innovative. I just frantically want to be with her, and I didn't even know that I was capable of being enormously self-seeking, not until this point.

I really was headed for the caves when out of the corner of my eye; I noticed golden tresses flowing smoothly.

"Wanda!" I nearly bawled; my hand over my head to show some sign that I'm right here.

I was relieved that she's finally come back, but sickened again for not finding her myself. The two strangers that sat at both my opposite sides gaped at me, indisputably curious from the abrupt yell, and then went back to their conversations.

She twisted her head around, searching to where my voice came from when she finally noticed me. A pleasing grin stretched across her face, and I felt my own mouth widen.

My legs started moving without even any permission from me, just…automatic.

"Ian." She quickly walked towards me. My arms were abruptly around her, my lips kindly poignant with hers. Again, motions that are simply habitual.

She parted our lips, and smiled. "You haven't actually missed me that much, have you?" and placed our lips together another time.

"I'm not sure; I haven't seen you since—this morning." I drew her closer to me, and she giggled her blissful laugh.

She backed away again, and I thought she needed a breath, so I internally beamed, but she took a step back and introduced me to the person I wanted to see the least right now.

"Ian, I'm sure you remember B—"

"Burns. Fire World. Sure." I made each word a sentence, vigilant not to show my reluctance. He held his hand out, undoubtedly waiting for a handshake.

Even if the unexplainable, stunning antipathy slowly started to build up yet again, and even more vibrant now that I have him face-to-face with me, I still accepted the unbearable shaking of his hand anyway and faked a smile.

I didn't place it in my mind anymore though, since Wanda is now nearby.

"I'll just sit over there." Burns whispered to Wanda, spotting to one of the tables. He looked back at me and his lips twitched. Was he smiling?

Wanda came closer, moving her lips down to the level of my ear.

"Hey…you wouldn't mind if I accompany Burns for this moment, do you?" She whispered innocently; too polite to oppose to. "I did somewhat promise Jeb. Of course, you were there." She looked at my face, my expression, locked her eyes with mine to make it impossible to not meet her gaze. It was noticeable enough that she was anticipating for a 'No, go ahead. I don't mind.' That hope made her eyes glimmer, the silver outlines in her gray-blue eyes shining and dancing.

She wouldn't understand; it'll be difficult to let her be with Burns.

I haven't honestly decided on it, but I'm essentially left with just a single option anyway; even if it hurts one of us.

"Absolutely, no worries at all." I flashed another false grin.

"Thank you." She kissed me on the cheek which was more thankful than pleased. "I promise; I'll meet with you after, when they all leave. Just you and me!" She lightly brushed her lips against mine and started moving backwards to one of the available counter tables where Burns was waiting. "I love you!" She added when she was in a distance where anyone would barely hear.

I sighed, crushed.

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**_So you noticed that I've placed another character's point of view. I just think the story will work better and it'll be easier to understand. I hope Ian's POV works. :D_**


	7. Chapter 7:Denied

CHAPTER SEVEN

**Denied**

**Ian O'Shea**

The rest of the day flew by, much to my disappointment, astonishingly slow. More people came every half an hour or so, they were all from Nate's community. I still wasn't that sociable to those who came, I was still having inner monologues with myself, pathetic as that may sound. I had only learned few names; Angela, Keith, Andrew, Richard, Sarah, Luna, and those people weren't even half of those who arrived into this informal 'party', and it was dinner time, most of them crowding to the kitchen once again.

Eventually, half of all the people started parting the kitchen and plaza, but I was really expecting for someone in particular to go away. They were still talking, of course. What else is there to talk about?

"Ehem" someone cleared their throat, too deep to be female. "Ehem" He cleared again, dragging a stool and placing it beside me. "Ehem, ehem, ehem"

"What?" I finally looked at the disturbing man.

"Huh." Jared whispered, amused. He smiled at me, mostly from my frustrated expression at him. "I knew it." He said in a louder tone.

"What are you talking about?" I wouldn't want to be annoyed by Jared's idiotic nonsense right now, I was uneasy enough.

He was still beaming, examining my face. He suddenly exploded, laughing. I glowered at him, Why was making a fool out of himself? Laughing like a wild person like that.

"I'm sorry, but this is entertaining, O'Shea!" He chortled again, slapping his hand to his right knee.

"Nothing seems to be funny here, Howe."

"Okay, okay. Alright..." He set himself, sitting up straight. He held a hand by his chest to stop himself, a few chuckles escaping his mouth now and again. "But you gotta admit, that face looks—unusual on you."

"What face?" I said through my gritted teeth.

He was repressing another smile, no, wait—a laugh. Not until he couldn't resist it any longer and he let it all out.

I scoffed, getting off of the stool and almost marched out, planning on leaving this kitchen, which is very close in becoming my least favorite place under these caves.

"Oh, come on. This is disappointing me. Aggravation and jealousy is not much of a good match." Jared said behind me when I turned my back to him, the smile on his voice clear.

"I'm not sure about the jealousy part, Howe. But I'm pretty much through with your garbage." I nearly growled, sitting back with a grim leer on my face.

"Ian." Jared heaved a sigh, a strange yet sober look on his face. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but…you've got the jealous flu." He said, stressing and slowing on the 'Jealous' and he surprisingly chuckled again.

Jealous. Oh. Jealous? "About Wanda?"

"Oh, No. About my secret relationship with Maggie. I know you've…always liked her." He stated, mocking me with full disdain. "Of course Wanda!" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "And that tall red-head." He added.

"I'm not jealous."

"Right, you're not." He snickered, leaning onto the counter. "You're just quietly desiring. Completely driven with mad envy! No wait, does resentful sound good to you? I got it, you're definitely green-eyed right there." Jared gloated with a smug look still glued to his face.

There was no other way to avoid this, especially when it was Jared plunging and drowning you with the taunts, it was inescapable.

I sighed and placed my fingers on my temples, rubbing them instinctively.

"Had enough?"

"I'm not jealous, Jared." I said quietly.

"Well, in denial is another mismatch." He exclaimed, looking around the room and dodging my irritable stare. "Look," he started, serious again. "I understand, it's hard. You don't know the guy, you don't know his history, you can't trust him…" he said, enumerating the possibilities. "But you can't judge him either."

I looked up at him with confusion and doubt. "Easy for you to say, you don't see mysterious, distrustful strangers roaming around Melanie."

"First of all, that's completely different."

"How could it possibly be any different?"

"Mainly because Mel's family is all here." I raised my eyebrow and faced him with skepticism.

"So…?"

"Mel wouldn't mind if there were outsiders here, all that is important to her is with her. And I wouldn't be jealous at all, not like some of us. That red-head is Wanda's family, one of her own kind. She's a soul, for crying out loud. How do you expect for her to be in touch to her own kind like that ever again? She's with us, with you. And secondly, that 'stranger' wouldn't be so mysterious if you get to know him." He said in a straight tone, all traces of contempt gone.

"You don't know him any more than I do!" I cried out, throwing my arms in the air.

"True, but he's a friend of Wanda now, which makes her know the best qualities about this guy." He glanced at me then, maybe to see my reaction to that account.

"Your point being?"

"My point, O'Shea, is I'm sure Wanda wouldn't want someone, like you perhaps, her whole life, to worry about something so worthless and irrelevant."

I shut my eyes and exhaled, trying to breathe evenly because I knew what he proposed was absolutely right. Wanda wouldn't want that, and knowing her, it's either she'd over think about situations like that or she would just simply promise me that nothing needs to be upset about anyway.

Jared triumphed; he had succeeded in whatever he was trying to prove to me, so he let me go easily. He stood up and gazed at me shortly.

"Just think about it."

**Wanderer**

After a fatiguing, unusual, quite amusing day, everyone eventually left. Although all of Nate's area was able to arrive, even in separate times, Nate was still careful not to get carried away with all the joy they were having and certain to get everyone back to their caves safely.

"So it was great seeing you again, Wanda." Burns' voice swiftly bounded in, interrupting me from my stupor. "I-I'm actually hoping to see you again…" I faced him then, surprised to hear the hesitancy in his tone.

"Oh, well I'm sure this wouldn't be that last." I smiled at him amenably, and he grinned back.

"Today was amusing." He said while shrugging his jacket back on. "I'll be seeing you soon enough."

"Goodbye Burns." I smiled once more, and he stepped out to the exit together with Nate and three more people who were left behind.

The plaza wasn't much of a clutter, however, the kitchen was. It was late, and everyone was bound to be asleep by now, but there were still several who were awake to gather the plates, the supplies traded and anything else we could put our hands on. Lucina and Trudy were to arrange the kitchen, scheduled to clean the dishes in the morning. Heath and Andy were sent to place the tools by the stock room. And Lily, Brandt, Jeb and I were left to sort out the plaza.

Ian left a while back in dinner, I saw him last with Jared and he started back to the halls. I was initially planning to go after him and ask what his problem was when I remembered Burns. I felt bad now that I was not able to keep my promise of seeing him; I didn't know they would all reside in the entire night, and now Ian is sleeping, surely snoring.

I hadn't noticed everyone leaving the plaza now; Jeb was behind them all, checking everything before he headed off.

"Wanda, we could continue this tomorrow morning, why don't you go to bed now?" Jeb offered, gesturing his hand forward. But that reminded me...

"Sure, but Jeb…do you mind if I ask you something? If it's not too personal?" I expectantly asked while pacing towards him. He gave me a skeptical gaze but nodded still.

"Uh, Alright, What the heck anyway" He chuckled lightly, and one of the angles of his lips lifted.

"I was just wondering actually, and I'm fairly surprised why you had to take so much time to think it through…"

"Spit it out, Wanda."

"Jeb, having to wait for all those months before telling these people, well, it's unfair—for them. I was truthfully expecting for you to announce it the day after we met them, I just didn't place the nerve in me to ask why you didn't." He was amused, like he was anxious for this to come and he nodded another time.

"This isn't a secret, so don't fret and feel guilty for asking Wanda." He tightened his lips into a thin line and sighed. "I had no problems sharing with the others about the new crowds, it was when I spoke to Nate when he refused and told me not to…well, not yet. I was stunned as you are at this moment, but he explained it to me. He told me about his friend, his best friend, Burns." I raised my head to him when I heard Burns' name. I did not imagine for him to be included into that reason.

"When I said that there were things to be discussed, I was actually saying that there were issues to be dealt with. Nate informed me things about Burns, like they were having problems. I-I didn't want to ask further, I didn't want to be rude. But it's truly nothing to worry about." He smiled at me reassuringly, he was always best at that. "Well, I'm beat. We should rest if we want to get some work done early." He got up and extended his arms, apparent that he was overdoing it.

"Goodnight Jeb."

I wouldn't want to be impolite either, and this is something about Burns that caught me off guard once more, but I didn't understand. There were problems. What could those problems possibly be?


	8. Chapter 8:Thrilled

**_This is kind of shorter than the others. But, I guess it's fine. R&R. XD_**

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

**Thrilled**

**Wanderer**

I stepped in into our cave room gently; alert not to make any hasty movements. I slid the door and closed the other that was covering the first one. I quickly turned around and strode towards the mattress. Ian had his back on me and a sense of shame and guilt came rushing into me. I breathed out a light sigh and sunk into the mattress and lied down on my back.

"Wanda?" Ian abruptly jumped, propping on his elbows and turning his whole body to my direction.

"Hey, why are you still up?" I brushed his hair away from his face and planted a tiny kiss on his forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise. I wasn't expecting for them to leave so late." He smiled at me and placed his hand on my cheek, stroking it with his thumb.

"Its fine Wanda, you're here now anyway."

"Have you been here since dinner? I definitely hope not, there were a lot of interesting people out there today. Although, there was this particular man whom I just simply couldn't understand, he slurs his words. Well, everyone seems pleased, that's nice. Oh, I hope Jamie made new friends." I was astonished of everything I had said, too much in little time. Ian was amazed too, he chuckled at my enthusiasm but I couldn't stop babbling.

"You know what's amusing though? Even Sharon had the heart to take some time and be cordial, for once. I'm not sure about Magnolia th-" He suddenly broke me off mid-sentence when he placed his mouth together with mine. A startled moan escaped through my lips followed by a delighted one. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, locking my fingers around his hair. He caught me off guard when he turned us completely around and he was on top of me.

He parted away and I automatically leaned my head forward to steal his lips back when I felt cold kisses on my neck. He held my leg and I willingly arched it around his legs. Trails of live fire were left behind after every kiss he's made on my neck. I cupped my hand under his jaw and lifted his head to see his face. He moved in to smoothly kiss me by the jaw, around in back and forth and then he roughly firmed our lips together. I felt his tongue sway out and mine met his eagerly. I reacted powerfully, and I jerked on his shirt, pushing and pulling it uncontrollably in no specific track. His tongue went around in circles inside my mouth, and I was holding back a moan, certain that it would be heard.

He must've misunderstood my gesture, because he sat up and swiftly took his shirt off and threw it to one of the corners of the dark cave.

I gazed at him. At his face, his eyes, his chest. He looked more muscular and serene than ever, especially now without clothing on his upper body. His sapphire colored eyes were flaming, even in the dark it was alluring.

I sat up too and he pressed me nearer to him. My hands traced all around his chest. He brushed his lips on my neck again, coming closer to my own lips. When he finally reached it, I accidentally bit him. He silently laughed with us still intact.

And then I froze.

His hands were under my shirt, holding the strap of my bra, ready to unfasten it. He sensed my still position, and backed away to see my face.

"I'm sorry; I thought you were ready…" He got out of the mattress and he was reaching for his shirt. Fear fell on me; I didn't want him to get dressed. And I didn't want him to sleep displeased and disappointed. But I'm not saying I don't want him too; I do…but am I ready?

"No! Wait, Ian" I leaped from the mattress and stood in front of him. I hurriedly took my own shirt off and tossed it to the same spot where he landed his. I rapidly sprinted to him, hooking both of my legs around his waist and graved us both to the cave wall. A deep groan came from the back of his throat and he was gasping for air.

"Wanda, are you really ready?" He stopped and looked at me, but I continued kissing his cheeks, his neck, everywhere around his face. He took my face in his bold hands and stared directly into my eyes. "This is serious. You're not compelled to do this. And don't think you're obliged to do this for me, because you're not. Not at all. This is all on you, your own choice."

"And it's a choice I'm willing to take. I can't imagine doing this with anyone else, you are my whole existence, and I am ready. I love you more than anything, more than anyone. I love you." He started to shake his head slowly, and he was beginning to smile.

"Not as much as I love you." I was to object to that and disagree with him because I wouldn't think that was possible if my love for him is unimaginable and he couldn't love me more than I do when he caught my breath before I could even speak.

My head was whirling uncontrollably, and I was breathless. I lead him back to the mattress and we both fell. He was on top of me again and his hands were at my back once more and undecided on what to do. This time, I didn't stiffen. Instead, I grabbed his hands and guided him to release the strap of my bra. It fell on my lap and Ian hastily heaved it to the ground. My own hands unconsciously went to his pants, attempting to unbuckle it. He did that for me and removed it himself, faster than I could have done.

When he was through with that, he pulled my shorts down and made it roll to the ground.

He clutched my waist and towed me closer to his chest, but I couldn't see how we could possibly be any closer.

I was wrong, we're definitely close now. He went in me, and we were closer than before, we were…one, whole.

He entered me again and I moaned in shock, loud enough that could be heard through the halls.

In terms of being a Soul, I was still a toddler, merely a two year old, so it's clear that this is my first time making love with someone. Of course, I had no idea what to do. This world didn't exactly come with an instruction manual.

I couldn't control all the moaning and screaming of his name out loud, so he kissed me roughly to trap the sound inside my mouth. He gazed at me and grinned.

"You would have to keep it down, Wanderer, so no one would come in and we could continue." I nodded and rolled over, so that I was on top of him.

"I wouldn't be too sure. You might be wilder than I am."

I woke up the next morning and Ian wasn't there. I panicked, quickly sitting up and calling out his name. He came in through the door with a tray on his hands.

"I brought you breakfast." He sat down next to me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Breakfast in bed. For what special occasion?" I asked dubiously.

"None in exact. There doesn't have to be a special happening for me to do something for you."

"Sure, well, thank you then." I leaned in to give him a soft peck on the lips, but I couldn't resist, I tightened my hold on him with my arms around his neck. I remembered what I was doing and I backed away and fixed my stare down on the food. "Sorry, I got carried away."

"Don't be." He placed his index finger and thumb on my chin and began to daze me again with his enthralling eyes.

"Knock, knock." We both turned our heads towards the entrance of the cave. Melanie was standing there, leaning on her shoulder. "Breakfast in bed? Wow. Jared never did that to me, well, you must've done something extraordinary, Wanda." She laughed at her own joke. "I'm just kidding."

We both stared at her with bothered expressions on our faces; it still puzzled me why she was here.

"Oh, Sorry. You must be wondering why I'm—Wanda, Ian, some of us are planning to go visit the other communities, I guess including Nate's. They couldn't get enough of yesterday's 'entertainment', and we're running low on food too. So basically, there's a quick raid and numerous visiting trips. You guys wanna come to one of those?"

Ian and I shortly glanced at each other and I smiled.

"I could go to one of those visiting trips." I suggested, eager to meet more of the humans, or at least maybe to see Burns again.

"I-I can help with the raid." Ian softly said, getting off of the mattress and straightening the folds from his shirt.

"Wanda, you're not coming to the raid?" Melanie asked with a strained tone on her voice. "Well, that's gonna be hard." She whispered to herself. I realized that they needed me, because it would be effortless and easier if I was the one to retrieve the provisions since the other Souls wouldn't suspect me of something so accusing.

"Oh, right. No, no. I'm coming." I managed to squeeze in a tiny smile to that, and Melanie sighed in relief.

"Good. I mean…thanks. I'll see you two later."

Ian looked at me joyfully, and I was curious to why.

"You're coming with us? N-not with the other communities?" He asked with a straight face, but I could hear the slight excitement in his voice.

"I guess not." I said. And he, too, sighed in relief.


End file.
